TMCnet News
EDITORIAL: Google makes the right call with ChinaJan 16, 2010 (Merced Sun-Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Cyber skeptics took aim at Google in 2006 when it began offering a Chinese version of its search engine and agreed to abide by China's censorship laws. To its credit, Google has recognized the folly of its ways. In the process, it is making the Silicon Valley proud. Google announced Tuesday that it no longer would follow China's policy of censoring searches. The move came in response to the Mountain View company's conclusion that China had launched a cyber attack aimed at stealing information about dissidents who use Google's Gmail system. "These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered -- combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the Web -- have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China," Google's statement said. China, while insisting it has done nothing wrong, is defending its laws, as any sovereign would. Only time will tell if Google's stand helps budge this regime away from its rigid totalitarianism. Google's stand poses some risk to itself and its employees, though only in the short term. In China, it faces civil actions and even criminal sanctions. Google stock tumbled from $601 a share at the start of the week to below $580, and then bounced back up to $589 at Thursday's close. Like the good capitalists they are, Google's leaders may hope that snubbing China may lead to more brand loyalty and a greater market share. Google, a firm that didn't exist until 1998 and now boasts 20,000 employees, faces an immediate challenge from Microsoft's upstart search engine, Bing. But it is also challenging Apple and its iPhone by offering its own version of this transformative piece of technology. As Internet use increases, so do threats to personal privacy. Google is in the cross hairs of these concerns. By standing up to China's censorship laws, Google made the right moral decision. It also made a smart business decision that, over the long haul, could serve it very well indeed. ------ Editorials are the opinion of the Merced Sun-Star editorial board. Members of the editorial board include Publisher Debra Kuykendall, Executive Editor Mike Tharp, Editorial Page Editor Keith Jones, Copy Desk Chief Jesse Chenault and Online Editor Brandon Bowers. To see more of the Merced Sun-Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mercedsunstar.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Merced Sun-Star, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |